433 posts categorized "Roster Moves/Trades"

In case the news is really bad after Ben Revere see a
foot specialist Monday morning, Ruben Amaro Jr. has a plan in place that might work.
If that one doesn’t look like it’s going to pan out, he’s going to do more
shopping around than he originally intended.

The organization has sent second baseman Cesar Hernandez
from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to Double-A Reading, where he’ll play center field
exclusively with the hope that he’s an upgrade over John Mayberry Jr., who
filled in for Revere in Game 2 Saturday and then on Sunday.

“He struggled yesterday, but it’s a new position for him,”
Amaro said. “But we’ll give him a shot.”

Although Freddy Galvis played some in the outfielder in spring training and earlier this year with the Phillies, Amaro said the club is opting to try Hernandez in center field because he’s
faster.

While Hernandez is trying to adjust, Amaro will be looking
around to possibly make a trade for a center fielder. He’s not against selling young
talent, but he is going to be picky about who he trades away.

“If it’s going to be a long-term thing [with Revere], we’ll
look to upgrade that position," Amaro said. "“There are some young players that we might be able to move. We can’t afford to move guys that we think are close or going to
be helping us here shortly."

Amaro still isn’t convinced the bullpen, as is, can get this
team where it wants to go. So he’s still hoping to improve his relief corps.

“We are probably in the add mode more than anything else,”
Amaro said.

Although the Phillies currently have three catchers on their 25-man roster and no true center fielder, Amaro said he doesn't envision making a move right out of the All-Star break.

It happened to him so many times that Ben Revere figured it
was just the makings of another bruise.

Then he stepped out of the box, made contact and ran down
the line. Yikes.

“I tried to do everything I could to get down the first-base
line,” Revere said before Sunday’s game.

"It was definitely throbbing."

The Phillies center fielder’ right ankle swelled up almost
immediately and X-rays showed he broke a bone on the inside of his right ankle.
He was given a very general time frame of six to eight weeks, but that could change
after he sees a foot specialist Monday morning.

The timing for Revere couldn’t be worse. In his last 15
games, he’s hit safely in 14 of them. Over that stretch, he hit .431 with five
doubles, a triple, seven RBIs and six runs scored. But he started getting hot
even before the last two weeks.

Dating back to a 65-game stretch since May 1, the center
fielder hit .347 (78-for-225). He struck out only 22 times during that time.

“One of those freak accidents,” Revere said. “That was the
first broken bone that I had since I was playing sports. Am I frustrated? Yeah.
But I can’t let myself get down. Usually I’m a fast healer. Hopefully this won’t
take long. I’m going to be behind my teammates so hopefully by the time I get
back, we’re going to be in a playoff run.”

To take Revere’s spot on the 25-man roster, Erik Kratz was
activated from the disabled list. He was there four and a half weeks because of
having his left knee scoped for torn meniscus.

Kratz caught nine innings for the first time Saturday with
Reading, but has yet to catch back-to-back days. He was originally scheduled to
catch five innings today with Reading, but was activated instead.

Yes, this means the Phillies have three catchers on their
25-man roster. Don’t expect that to be the case after today. They won’t begin
the second half with three catchers. This was so they had an extra body who
could hit or even play first base if needed.

I’m expecting the team will call up and outfielder after the
All-Star break, unless of course there’s a trade made before then.

Predicting how and when things are going to happen regarding
the trade deadline is about as difficult as predicting a few days in advance
when a thunderstorm is going to hit.

It hasn’t been easy lately.

One thing seems almost certain: GM Ruben Amaro Jr. envisions
any moves, whether his team buys or sells, will come much closer to the July 31
trade deadline. We’re still three away from that.

“Unless we reel off 10 out of 11 or we lose 10 out of 11,”
Amaro said. “Then we’ll have a clearer picture.”

With the Phillies having won six of their last eight and
sitting just one game below .500, Amaro seems to be leaning away from selling right
now.

“We are playing better baseball and putting ourselves in a
position to be buyers,” Amaro said.

A bullpen piece will be the first thing he’s looking for, he
added.

That should make Charlie Manuel happy.

“I think for us to have a real good bullpen, we definitely
have to have an eighth-inning guy, a solid, right-handed pitching,
eighth-inning guy to go with [Antonio] Bastardo,” Manuel said. “Bastardo’s good when we
can match him against lefties.”

HOWARD HAD SURGERY WEDNESDAY

Ryan Howard had his knee scoped Wednesday by team physician
Dr. Michael Ciccotti at the Rothman Institute in Philadelphia. Dr. Ciccotti
performed a debridement of Howard’s left medial meniscus, which means he
removed/snipped away the cartilage that was torn. There was no repair done,
which would have mean he’d have a longer recovery. He’s expected to return in
six to eight weeks.

“The arthritic things that we had seen in the MRI were even
better when they looked in the scope, so that’s a good sign,” Amaro said. “As
news goes, this is as good as we can get.”

DAULTON HAS BRAIN CANCER

Darren Daulton, who had surgery a couple week ago, has been diagnosed with a Glioblastoma,
a form of brain cancer, 97.5 The Fanatic said in a press release on its Web
site.

It’s the same type of cancer that took former Phillies
closer Tug McGraw in January 2004.

"It saddens me, but I’ll still remain optimistic," Amaro said. "I’m hoping and praying things go well for him. He’s got a
tough road ahead of him, but I hope it goes well."

The revered Phillies catcher is now in his Clearwater area
home to continue recuperating amongst his immediate family and friends. He will
eventually have treatments in Florida.

“Darren and his family wish to thank everyone for their
loving support throughout this difficult time,” the release said. “He is deeply
touched. In typical fashion, he again said, ‘Right on; Fight on.’”

Rich Dubee likes Phillippe Aumont’s strong will. The
Phillies pitching coach just wishes the reliever were a little more open to
change.

Now is Aumont’s best chance to show he can and will.

For the second time this season, the Phillies optioned
Aumont to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. The club purchased the contract of Luis
Garcia, who will take Aumont’s place in the bullpen. To make room for Garcia on
the 40-man roster, the Phillies shifted Mike Adams to the 60-day disable list.

“He believes in what he’s doing is going to work,” Dubee said. “You
need belief in what you’re doing, but at the same time I think there’s more
upside if he gets lengthened out a little bit. I don’t mind headstrong guys. If
you don’t believe in what you’re doing, you’re not going to be successful. On
the other hand, you have to have some self evaluation to see what’s working and
what isn’t working.

Aside from wanting Aumont to be more willing to make try new
things, even if they are uncomfortable at first, Dubee emphasized the
importance of Aumont getting more ground ball outs and him lengthening his
stride.

“I think he’s got one ground ball
out this month,” Dubee said. “He should be a sinkerball, ground ball machine.
His fastball has been flat. So, give him some more reps [with the IronPigs].

“He’s hard to give a lot of stuff
to, because what he’s doing, he feels comfortable doing. Personally I think he
needs more length in his stride. For a big guy he should be getting out on top
of hitters. But you try to do that there is not that comfort zone, that trust
zone. Those are things hopefully they’ll chip away at and get him some length,
get him on top of hitters more often, throwing from 60-feet at 6-foot-7. But
that’s tough to do at this level when you’re looking for consistency and
looking for performance.

Garcia has climbed from Single-A Clearwater to the big
leagues in two and a half months. He was signed by the Phillies on April 22 and
added to Single-A Clearwater’s roster. He was promoted to Reading just more
than a month later. Three weeks later, he was called up to Lehigh Valley, where
in six games he posted a 1.29 ERA. In 7.0 innings pitched, he has allowed five
hits, one run, four walks and two wild pitches. He’s fanned six.

Dubee has never seen Garcia pitch but he said all the
reports on him have been good. He could be thrown into a game as early as
tonight, despite the fact that the pitching coach hasn’t seen him pitch.

You can't help but wonder if the team is in the process of making some kind of trade or roster move.

The clubhouse was open to reporters earlier, but not as long as usual. And within minutes of my walking into the clubhouse, the door to Charlie Manuel's office was closed. At one point, general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. was in the office. I can't say with certainty if here was in there when the door closed.

Oh, at 11:50 a.m. there was still still lineup posted for a 1:35 game against the Braves. That's unusual.

Ruben Amaro Jr. insists he’s not yet determined if his team
is going to be buyers or sellers. This homestand stands to be the difference
maker.

“It could be. It could be,” the general manager admitted. “I
hope we’re adding to this club than subtracting. That’s the goal, but as I
always say and I’ve been saying the same thing, the players will dictate it.”

The Phillies play their next 10 games at Citizens Bank Park
against the NL East-leading Braves, second-place Nationals and White Sox, which
takes them right up to the All-Star Break. They enter Friday’s game 8.5 games
in back of Atlanta and 6.0 games behind Washington.

Of the Phillies' next 19 games (July 5-28), 13 of them are against teams with winning records, which will only making their path to be buyers tougher.

Amaro said that he’s not only fielding phone calls, but he’s
busy making them, too, to inquiry about players.

“We’ve had a lot of discussions in the last three or four
days,” he said. “As you can imagine, we have a lot of interest in some really
good players we have on our team.”

He added that there are no untouchables on the current
25-man roster.

“Some guys are a lot less touchable than
others, but we’ll keep our eyes open, our ears open,” he said.

Even when it comes to Chase Utley, who stands to be a free
agent at the end of the year?

“Really tough [to trade him],” Amaro said. “Again, I see him as a Phillie for life, but I’m
not the most stubborn human being on the planet.”

DON’T
READ INTO THESE DECISIONS

Carlos Ruiz is not in tonight’s starting
lineup, but manager Charlie Manuel said it’s just a day off.

“I don't want Chooch to get tired
or break down,” he said. “He wanted to play. I figured it was time to do that.
In some ways, I didn't want to do it.”

The Braves were originally supposed to have right-hander Tim
Hudson starting tonight’s game, and Ryan Howard was in the lineup. Atlanta made
a change a few hours before the game and opted to go with lefty Paul Maholm.
Manuel did not make a change to his lineup and said even when Maholm was slated
to be Saturday’s starter, Howard was going to start.

There has been speculation that with the limited games
lately Howard has played against lefties, that he’s becoming a platoon player.
Manuel put the nix on that.

“I don't look at Ryan Howard as a platoon player yet,” Manuel
said. “I think he can still hit and still get going. His knee does bother him.
If we're going to rest him against somebody, it should be against a lefty. But
at the same time, it doesn't mean he is a platoon player yet.”

DINGERS: Amaro said Roy Halladay has started throwing from 75 feet. ... Dom Brown said he's still unsure if he would participate in the Home Run Derby if he were invited.

According to multiple reports, pitcher Kyle Kendrick has a mild concussion.

The right-hander was hit on the back of his helmeted head by a pitch from Dodgers pitcher Stephen Fife in Sunday's game. He initially stayed in the game and went to first base and then pitched the bottom of the sixth inning before being pulled from the game.

There is a seven-day disabled list for players with concussions. If Kendrick lands there, he would miss his next start and the Phillies would have to make a decision about who would make his start. They could opt to piece things together and make it a bullpen start or they could call up Tyler Cloyd or Ethan Martinfrom Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Following tonight's game, the Phillies optioned backup infielder Freddy Galvis to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. Taking his place on the 25-man roster will be John McDonald, who the Phillies acquired in a trade with Cleveland earlier in the day on Thursday.

I'm assuming this move was made in order to get Galvis more playing time. From June 19-28, he had just three at-bats.

The Phillies have acquired infielder John McDonald from the Cleveland Indians for a player to be named later or cash considerations.

McDonald, 38, is 2-for-38 (.053) this year. This will be his third team
since the start of the regular season (Pirates, Indians as well).

To make room for McDonald on the 40-man roster, catcher Steve Lerud was outrighted off the 40-man roster to Lehigh Valley to make room for McDonald on the 40-man. McDonald is expected to join the team tomorrow in Los Angeles, at which time a move will be made to accommodate him on the 25-man roster.

Could the Phillies be thinking about sending Freddy Galvis to Triple-A so he can play more at-bats? Or maybe a bigger move is in the works?